The Tree House
by Gomizia
Summary: So she shakes her head to answer his first question, contradicting her own answer, but she glances at him in confusion because he is now as still as an ice cube. Except, he isn't feeling cold at all because his cheeks seem to be heating, bringing the crimson color to his face and his ears. She wonders what causes this boy to be that flust—no way.


It has been more than two weeks now since Hinata started doing this; every Wednesday she comes all the way from her home to the hills near a local small farm. Around that time the sheep are let loose to eat grass on the hills. She will come close to them and play around and then she runs and the sheep always chase after her. The sheep go wherever she goes and it is always fun. The sheep are all fat and fluffy but they are not the only reason she makes it a routine. Well it _was_ at first, but not anymore.

Two weeks ago, when she was hiding under the cool shades of the big tree far enough from the visual range of the colonies of sheep but not too far to watch them, after she had been tired from all the running, she watched as four dogs were walking down the road from the direction of the small farm, up to the hills where the sheep were. Behind the dogs, a boy with hair the color of the sun. From this far a distance, that was the only feature of his that she could catch; his golden hair. The boy seemed to be talking because the wind carried his voice all the way down to Hinata's tree, though she could not catch what he was saying. But he was smiling and she was pretty sure he was talking to the dogs.

He _is_ talking to the dogs now as usual as he walks with them. She watches as the dogs guide the sheep back to the farm. He is now walking beside the dogs. She wonders if he owns the farm, or if he is the son of the farm's owner. She only comes once a week and sometimes twice, because her own house is on the other side of the village, too far away to visit too often and she only has her bicycle.

She wishes to talk to him someday and she has this imagination where she becomes his friend and he lets her help him to do his task because he seems to like his job very much, but her shyness prevents her to even do as much as come up to him and introduce herself. Other kids do it easily so why can't she? _Should I do it now?_ She is always miserable in these kind of things; talking to strangers, starting a conversation, everything is hard for her. Her occasional anxiety attacks don't help either and she's always afraid of saying the wrong things which would scare people away even though she has been nothing but polite. _Too_ polite and Hinata doesn't talk much. Even when she does, she only answers questions. So there's another fear of being boring because people won't talk to boring people. She's contemplating hard for this another chance. But when she looks up he's gone already. Another chance missing.

Next time then.

So Hinata comes back the next week at the same time, like always. But when she stands on the top of the hill, the sheep aren't there. It is weird because this day is a good day. The sky is clear, only a few clouds marring the sky and the sunlight is glistening through the cracks of the leaves. A frown slowly makes its way to her mouth. So with a heavy heart, she walks down to her tree to wait. Maybe the sheep are a little late today, maybe something comes up and the owner has to fix it before letting their sheep go outside.

She waits for almost an hour and no sign of the fat sheep. She looks up to the sky and there are more clouds now marring the perviously clear sky. When Hinata realizes that the sky is getting darker, it's already too late. Droplets of water hit the grass. First slowly, then mercilessly.

' _How? It had been a nice day..._ '

The midnight-haired girl is glad that the big tree shields her from the merciless rain. She thinks about hopping on her bike and race home under the rain. But home is a long way and her father will scold her. She thinks about waiting but it won't be too long before the wind blows the rain and she will be drenched.

She leans against the tree trunk and feels something protruding against her back. She turns, and sees a wooden stick nailed horizontally to the tree trunk. Her sight trails up the trunk and sees another wooden sticks nailed, separated from each other by a certain distance, all way up to the tree house above. Right, how can she forget? The tree house has been there the whole time, but she has never climbed up to it. Because it looks well taken care of and she doesn't want to climb there without permission. It feels almsot like _intruding_. She has never seen a person there though.

Frowning, Hinata looks up sadly at the dull gray sky. This was supposed to be the day she finally talks to the boy. This was supposed to be another good day. She didn't get to meet the sheep, doesn't even catch a glimpse of the boy she's so curious about, and she's stuck under a tree when the rain is pouring down, never seeming to stop for at least another hour. Hinata wonders if this is the reason why the sheep are kept in the farm, because they know it will rain.

She is startled out of thought when she hears another sound that doesn't come from the rain nor the wind. It sounds like it came from... _above_! So Hinata looks up and she sees a face. So it is a _voice_ then, she thinks. It is a boyish voice with a husky quality to it. The voice is still calling to her but her mind is still distracted. She snaps out of her mind and look—finally _look_ —at the face staring down at her from the tree house. It is _him_. It's _him_! Her mind is treacherously starting to go blank again.

"Climb up!" He says for the third time, just before her mind really goes blank, "it's safer and warmer here." When her brain has finally finished processing, she nods determinedly and stands up. Her limbs feel stiff but it doesn't take a long time for her to be able to move her muscles. She climbs up slowly, this ladder doesn't look very safe.

"Do you need help?" The boys asks again, looking a bit worried. He's about to climb down and do something when her soft voice calls up to him. "No. I'm good." When she reaches the top, she can finally look around the tree house, not meeting his eyes yet. It's a very nice tree house with a well-built roof above their heads.

"It's a makeshift ladder, a bit hard to climb right? My father and I will build the real thing if he has free time, when it doesn't rain." Only when he speaks again does her eyes can finally meet his and she's stunned. She stares, stares, and stares. Part of her still-conscious brain yells at her to look away. She would have turned crimson up to her ears, had there been at least a small part of her brain that orders her blood to rush, as always, that reminds her to be embarassed. But it's almost as if there's no time for that because she's drowning in those pools of blue.

"Eh? Is there something on my face?" His voice pulls her back to the surface of her self-consciousness. When she finally averts her gaze and looks at him, he is wiping nonexistent dirt on his face. She notices he has whisker-like birthmarks on both of his cheeks.

"Yes," she breathes, voice too small against the thundering sounds of the heavy rain hitting the roof, but he heard her. He waits for her to point the dirt, anything, on his face so he can wipe it clean. "Yes," she repeats, this time a breath louder, ' _you've got the whole sky in your eyes_ ,' she continues in her mind, secretly and quietly—because she'd die first before she dares to say that out loud, or _so_ she thinks.

So she shakes her head to answer his first question, contradicting her own answer, but she glances at him in confusion because he is now as still as an ice cube. Except, he isn't feeling cold at all because his cheeks seem to be heating, bringing the crimson color to his face and his ears. She wonders what causes this boy to be that flust— _no way_.

Her eyes widen in realization. ' _I did not say that out loud, no I didn't_.' Still flustered, the boy offers her an ear-to-ear grin, hands scratching his nape just below his hair that reaches the collar of his shirt. He is used to people, usually older, like his parents' friends, complimenting his eyes. But coming from this small girl, and the way she said that, he is not used to _that_.

"T-thanks I guess. Heh."

Recovering from inner shock, she finally asks, "I said that out loud?"

"About the sky?"

Hinata nods, flustered, and her cheeks mirror his own pink cheeks.

"Yeah. You didn't realize that? That's actually the nicest thing I've ever heard from a friend." He rubs his nape again. "My name is Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." He offers another smile, wide and bright but not overwhelming, and kind. His whiskers—not really whiskers but Hinata likes to refer them as his whiskers—stretch when he smiles. His hair is tousled, no doubt from his careless way of running his hand through his golden locks too many times. It seems to be his habit as he's doing it now too.

"Naruto... _kun_?" She tastes his name on her lips and teeth and tongue—not forgetting the honorific—and decides she likes it. He smiles encouragingly. "My name is Hinata." She offers him her own shy smile. "Hinata," he repeats, smiling, "that's a beautiful name."

Not letting her to fully take in his compliment, he asks, "Were you waiting for the sheep?" He shifts to avoid the splatter of rain carried by the wind. "Old man Kakashi told me he won't let his sheep out today. He predicted it would be raining even though it had been a nice day all morning. When I asked why he thought it would rain he just got all mysterious and said ' _my hunch_ '. He's pretty awesome at this prediction thingy."

Hinata is more stunned by the fact that Naruto knows she's been coming, and not only coming, but also playing and running with the sheep. She's not surprised if he also knows she's been sitting under this tree— _his_ tree—to watch him guide them back to the farm with the dogs afterwards.

"Sorry I didn't invite you up here earlier. I've been here since noon and when it was beginning to get dark, I thought you've left already. But I checked earlier and honestly I'm surprised you're still there when the rain is getting stronger." He offers a sheepish smile at this confession.

"My house is a bit far," she says, "and I was thinking to climb up but I didn't want to intrude."

At her explanation, Naruto let out a chuckle. Hinata is treating his tree house as a real house. She is curious about this _Old Man_ Kakashi who Naruto is talking about. She never sees him in the fields and up on the hills. She's only has seen Naruto. "You should come again tomorrow."

So the afternoon is spent with Naruto telling her all the stories about the lazy old man Kakashi; about his small farm, about the pond near his house and the ducks inhabiting it, about the horses. Hinata grows more curious from his stories so Naruto tells more; and he tells about the garden in his own house, the flower shop owned by his other friend next to his house. Mostly Naruto tells and Hinata listens.

"You should definitely visit Kakashi too."

"With you?"

"Of course with me!" He exclaims. His eyes gleam brightly with joy and the promise of another pleasant meeting. The blue in them goes a shade bluer when he's excited and Hinata wants to jump. He's going to see her more.

The sky is dark and dull now and the dark clouds hanging over them, hiding the sun away. She doesn't mind it now because the sky is here, with her, in his eyes. Bright and blue and clear. And he's got the sun with him too now with his shining smiling eyes, his golden hair that rivals sunlight, and his wide smile. It _is_ a _nice_ weather, for her.

.

0oOo0

.

The next day can't come any faster. Her routine is disturbed because starting today, she no longer goes to the farm once a week. Hinata has a new friend and she's excited. So after school ends, she goes home only to change her clothes. She rides her bicycle with more speed than she has ever allowed herself to challenge. When she parks her bike under the same tree—the tree with the house, Naruto is already there in his tree house.

"You came early," he says easily, hopping to the ground from the last step of the 'ladder' of his tree house. "You did too," Hinata responds happily. She's happy that now Naruto doesn't only come to guide Kakashi's sheep back to the farm with the dogs. With a hyped 'let's go!' he gestures for her to follow him down the road to this farm owned by a man named Kakashi to pick up the sheep.

Kakashi is more than happy when Naruto offers to let his sheep out in the fields, because he himself is quite a lazy man. He likes to watch over his farm from his terrace, outside, with a cup of Rose tea and a book that looks suspiciously like something he shouldn't show in front of ten year-olds.

"Yo!" He greets Naruto casually and Hinata is surprised that the _Old Man_ Kakashi isn't old at all. He looks young, not more than in his twenties. Four dogs are sitting on the wooden floor wagging their tails at the new comers. He quickly notices the new face, the girl with the short hime-cut style hair. "Ah, a new friend of Naruto's. What is your name, young lady?"

"Hyuuga Hinata," she replies politely. "Hyuuga, you say? You live on the other side of the village, don't you? That's a long way. But you will have fun here."

Konoha is a big village, but strangely, everyone knows everyone. She answers again, as politely, "Yes, we do and I've been enjoying being here."

"Yeah! You won't believe how many times she's come here only with her bicycle! She loves being in the fields!" Naruto exclaims and Kakashi let out a light chuckle, eyes forming a crescent moon when he laughs.

Hinata takes in her new surroundings. Kakashi has a very large yard that streches several meters to the back and front of his house, confined with modest waist-length wooden fence. In the front yard, above their heads, a sign reads as 'Hatake Farm' in the entrance of the farm. There is a horse stable, a sheepfold, a fish pond in the back of the house, and another pond for the ducks. It doesn't take long to take the sheep out. The dogs; Pakkun, Urushi, Shiba, and Akino following in tow dutifully.

The dogs' tails are wagging excitedly at Hinata. ' _They seem to like her already_ ,' Naruto muses. The sheep are all eating now. He watches as Urushi tackles Hinata to the ground and attempt to lick her cheek which she does her best to prevent it. He watches again when Hinata attempts to outrun the sheep, all twenty of them. They are following her everywhere. She runs ahead, and they quickly run after her, she turns direction to her left, they take a turn too. Her smile, her big smile which Naruto sees for the first time, stays in her face when she runs left and right. It is a sight to see.

His hair dances to the blow of the gentle wind as he stands in the middle of the green fields. He closes his eyes, letting the breeze touches his eyelashes in the gentlest way only wind can do. And he doesn't see when Hinata comes running at his exact direction, only when he opens his eyes does he realize that she's coming his way and he distractedly tries to stop the exhausted girl who at that time can't put a stop to her running feet. So she runs straight to him head on, sending them both tumbling to the ground, Naruto backwards and her following. The crowds that follow her just continue running past them, both of them lucky that these sheep aren't stepping on them.

Hinata's eyes widen in both shock and fear. In fear of Naruto getting angry at her, but what she hears is a series of laugh. He is laughing at their unfortunate moment but Hinata is worried, with her on top of him, it looks painful to laugh in his position. "Let's get up." He puts his hand to the ground at the same time Hinata does, his palm touching the grass. He lets her push herself up first before doing so himself.

"Man, fields as large as these and you came running to me head on."

Pink-cheeked, she sheepishly but sincerely says, "I'm sorry Naruto- _kun_." Naruto smells like dirt and fresh grass now, and Hinata realizes that she probably does too, but the smell is fitting to Naruto because he's a free-spirited boy and she unconsciously smiles.

"Nah. Don't worry about it. That was actually funny. Wish there had been someone with a camera recording it. I bet if we replay that, it'll still be as funny."

His hand reaches up to fix her slightly mussed hair and, for a moment, she wants to shrink to herself because she knows she probably smells like sweat from all the running and her hair probably feels warm and smells like the sun because she's been under the sunlight for so long but she catches herself and remembers that this _is_ Naruto. So Hinata lets him do just that and instead, feels something stir inside her, close to her heart.

"All better. Now let's bring them back to the farm." He then does something with his finger and mouth, letting out a blowing sound that the dogs quickly responds to. Together, they head back to the farm, walking behind the dogs as they are chasing away the sheep.

.

0oOo0

.

It hasn't been raining since the day he met her. The next time they met, he brought her to the farm again that morning. Naruto doesn't plan to take the sheep out, someone is helping Kakashi to do that today, a woman named Shizune and a man younger than Kakashi named Iruka whom both Naruto knows quite well.

When Kakashi asks him what he plans for today, Naruto simply grins and gestures to the back of the house. "Can I feed the ducks today?" Kakashi is more than happy, so he tells Naruto to go inside of his house of the farm's house to fetch the duck pellets. When he runs out of the duck pellets, which Kakashi always buys from the centre of the village, where the economic activities run, he usually uses fresh corn, frozen peas, or seeds.

With practiced ease, Naruto throws the food and the ducks go quack quack excitedly. Hinata follows easily. Feeding the ducks went quickly, the pellets have all gone to their bellies. She goes to sit on the grass, watching as a brown duck swim in the pond, clearly enjoying its full stomach and relaxed. She looks up at Naruto walking towards her sitting spot with a... duck in his hands.

"Come. Do you want to hold her? She's tame."

Hinata blinks at him and asks, "Is it even okay to hold a duck? Is there a specific, safe way to hold it?" Naruto thinks, and his eyebrows scrunch up when he does. He says, "Now that I think about it. I don't know, but Kakashi didn't yell at me when I did this the other time so I think it's okay. Now you try."

He hands her the duck. "Gently now." And now she is holding a duck like it's one of her baby doll but then the duck just quacks in her face which catches her completely off guard. Surprised, she lets go of it at once, throwing it in the air and the poor duck is flapping its weak wings to land on the surface of water. Then she hears someone laughing heartily. Naruto is laughing _at_ her.

Usually, she doesn't like it when she's become an object of somebody's laughing. But right now he is laughing, so carefree, in the morning. His eyes completely shuts when he laughs, his hair catches the gentle morning sunlight. The wind blows gently around them and her nose catches the fragrance of his fabric softener. And she finds herself yet again flustered. Her face feels warm and it spreads to her heart.

"Oh it's Shizune!" Naruto exclaimes. She throws her gaze at the direction of where he's looking and her own sight catches a raven-haired woman with a magnificent brown horse at her side. She sees as Naruto's excitement grows ten-fold. Soon enough, he grabs her hand and practically run to the large field next to the farm, not too far of a distance from the pond.

"Can I ride him yet?" Naruto asks eagerly.

"Not without my guide. You have to grow taller to ride him alone." She points to the male horse. The woman who looks the same age as Kakashi then turns her attention to Hinata. "And who are you, young lady?"

"Hyuuga Hinata." She smiles shyly. She's never been confident around new people. "Alright, lady Hyuuga, do you want to learn horseback riding with me and Naruto?"

At this, Hinata looks up completely to the smiling woman, eyes beaming with joy. She's been introduced to many interesting activites since she had met Naruto weeks ago. "Yes. Yes please!" And she can't hide her overflowing excitement anymore now.

.

0oOo0

.

"Naruto tells me a lot about you."

That day, she finally meets Naruto's father. Minato is his name. The man in front of her has a very charming smile. So unlike Naruto's in ways she's not so sure about. His smile reminds her of the gentle breeze of autumn while Naruto's reminds her of sunshine and the bright days of summer. Now she knows where Naruto got his hair from. His father tells Naruto something about not inviting Hinata to their home and something about being rude to a friend.

"Let's have lunch at our place after this. How about that, Hinata?" she hears him ask her. She averts her gaze to Naruto, his eyes sparkling with hope. His father smiles warmly at them. The girl nods, not knowing how to say no to _that_ face which would be a problem for the future because the older she gets, she knows she wouldn't have as much free time.

"Alright let's make the real ladder this time."

"Hm!" Hinata nods as eagerly.

.

0oOo0

.

Walking with Naruto and his father beside her feels weird, but a good kind of weird. It is like she has already accepted into the family. She watches the ground as they walk, looking up to Minato every once in a while, and he always smiles warmly at her everytime she does, and then she would avert her gaze to the ground again. Then she will do it again all over.

When she averts her gaze from the ground she's walking on, to the house in front of her, she is stunned. The Uzumaki house looks beautiful and has a homey feeling from outside, it invites her. The house is surrounded by many kinds of flowers, growing in pots and on the ground. Naruto told her he would take her to the backyard garden after lunch. His house is actually just a five-minute walk from the tree house.

"Come!" She hears him say, standing in front of the door.

Then she hears a very enthusiastic voice of a woman's. "Oooh! Is this the beautiful little lady Naruto has always told us about?"

The woman's face is inches from hers. Her grey eyes sparkling with pure adoration. She pokes Hinata's nose gently. Heat creeps up to her cheeks. She has heard about _that_ twice now, about how Naruto talks about her a lot. Now what exactly has Naruto told his parents? Trying to keep the blush away, she nods and smiles. "My name is Hyuuga Hinata," she introduces, despite knowing that his mother has probably heard her name at some point, if Naruto really talks about her a lot, a blush threatens to show again at the thought. Hinata, however, doesn't notice how Naruto is as flustered as she is, cheeks and ears red from embarassment. Why oh why do parents do that all the time?

Naruto's mother looks very young. Her hair a maginificent color of crimson. Her hair is so, _so red_. Even though Naruto shares Minato's features more, looking at Kushina's face, she now knows who Naruto looks like the most. "Uzumaki Kushina- _ttebane_." Their smiles are so much-alike, bright and can make anyone's heart warm.

Afraid of being embarassed by his parents again, he takes her small hand in his, bringing her to his backyard, where even more flowers are blooming. It reminds her of a clearing surrounded by wild flowers. "They say April rains bring May flowers," she beams. "That's true," he agrees, "come." He steps further, not bothering to wear sandals, the grass and soil feel nice under his bare feet.

"I see you love flowers too. I've got the flower seeds from Ino and plant them with mom and dad," he states when he sees Hinata admiring each different flower. "I can take you to her family's flower shop after lunch if you'd like." The girl smiles and looks at him. "Yes, I'd like that. Thank you Naruto, you're always so kind." And Naruto freezes, there's something about the way she said it that makes his heart clench.

.

0oOo0

.

Naruto grows up before her eyes but somehow Hinata didn't notice how he's gotten taller than her. He was the same height as her when they met seven years ago. He's seventeen now. His baby fat gone. His jaw stronger and sharper, his hair just an inch past his collar, shoulders broader. His voice has changed too, probably a note deeper or two, when he talks, but he's still got that childlike and boyish tone to his voice, and very apparent when he's excited. His smile remains the same. He still smiles the way he only can, bright and blinding but not overwhelming. But the corners of his lips twitch into a lopsided smile more often lately, she notices.

Hinata has let her hair grow long because one day she browsed through old albums and photos and saw her late mother's old picture when she was in her twenties, she had long midnight blue hair just like hers. She decided she wanted long hair too. She had been happy then, because Naruto noticed when she hadn't gotten a haircut and her hair wasn't short anymore, he had said that she _also_ looked pretty.

"Hinata?" His voice snaps her out of her trance. She's been distracted again, lost in another thought. His right hand on her shoulder. "It's raining. How long are you going to stand here? Come!" She hasn't even realized that it is indeed raining and she is standing there like a fool. Flustered and with reddish cheeks, she runs beside him back to the safety of the _tree._ He lets her climb up to the tree house first before him.

They both are safe under the roof of the house tree. Their clothes are only partly wet, major parts of their clothes are still relatively dry, thouh their hair all wet. "It's a shame we didn't think of asking Kakashi for his scary-accurate weather forecasting. I didn't think it was going to rain. And _this_ heavy and too sudden," he begins, shaking his head, sending drops of cold rain water in every direction, including Hinata's face.

She watches as he shakes his head like a wet puppy, ignoring the water from his hair that continues hitting her face, or how cold it is, or how her heart is drumming in her ribcage without her noticing, or how her stomach feels funny.

He stops when he doesn't hear a response. He looks up to her and catches her stare, his hair damp and clings to his head. He realizes she's been out of it lately; daydreaming, distracted, and her occasional lingering gaze. He starts to grow worried. Hinata is usually quick to look away everytime he returns her stare, but this time she looks like she's up for a staring contest, which worries him more.

"Hinata?" He tries again, not breaking his stare. Finally, catching him catch her staring, she averts her gaze quickly, trying in vain to be discreet. Heat causes blush in her pale complexion which doesn't go unnoticed by him. And his lips turn into a small smile. Now _that_ is Hinata.

She's looking down, finding the wood under her attractive, and only now does she notice her crazy heartbeat. Trying to fight the heat, she refuses to look up before her face returns to its normal color and her heartbeat to its normal pace, and a realization dawns on her.

She's in love. So badly in love. With Naruto. Naruto who now looks like a kicked wet puppy, whose hair damp and darker in color than its usual bright locks that rival the sun because of the rain, the Naruto who's trying in vain to keep his wet bangs away from his eyes, the Naruto who continues to complain about coming unprepared for the rain.

She doesn't know where, when, and how. But she knows she does love him. The thought and realization excites her at first, setting her burning heart into a race, faster now that she knows the reason behind it. But soon fear replaces her excitement. It quickly radiates within her and seeping through all parts of her body. Hinata is afraid.

He was scrawny back then. He told her once that he ate—eats—a lot, and he showed that he did eat a lot in her presence countless of occasions. The Hinata now knows that genes can do that to a person, to a lot of people. It seems that all of his food went straight to his height. In front of her now is Naruto, a young man he's grown to be. And she's afraid. Naruto is a social butterfly. He's bright and his personality attracts people. He has so many friends he can't even count, what if he has better friends than her? It will come as no surprise for her if, among those friends, some of them being girls, and some of the girls—girls that are better than her—found him attractive? Because he is. What if he had taken an interest in one of them?

Dejectedly, she realizes she can never be like them; she's basic, she's replaceable, she's not a social butterly. Heck, she gets anxiety from talking to strangers, always afraid of saying the wrong things. By the time she decides what to say, people will have decided she's boring to talk to and walked away. The thoughts depressed her and she can't escape, they are running through her mind.

For the first time in her life, she hates being in a different school from him. He goes to a public school while she goes to a private school, the one Naruto calls fancy and only cool people go to. Her life (and school) is full of people who shares her personality—people who don't talk much and are unapproachable. Uchiha Sasuke, the youngest kid of one of the richest families in Konoha, whose house is more like a manor than a house, goes to her school. Then there's Gaara, he's so unlike most people in ways she can't even explain. It's hard to be friends with people like that. And it's even harder for her, being like them, to befriend them; a reason why she only hangs out with Neji at school.

Hinata has foolishly let herself grown attached to Naruto. She needs him to be her friend because she doesn't have anyone else as close as him to her, who has seen her vulnerable side countless of times. He is important to her but not sure if she is to him. She needs him but he doesn't really need her like she does him. He has everyone. And she'd crumble when the time comes, the time he finally finds someone else, whether it be a friend or a lover. She would eventually have to let go.

Naruto watches as her gaze goes lower and lower. He can watch as her eyelashes touch her cheeks and he realizes she's in one of her mood. He wonders what kind of dark thoughts are haunting her mind now and how he wish he could read her mind.

"Hey Hinata?" His right hand moves to rest on her left shoulder. And she still won't look at him. He shifts closer to her, his both hands reaching up to her. Hinata finally notices the cold hands of his on her cheeks, she looks up to the very face she's so fond of. Droplets of rainwater from his wet hair fall steadily onto her thighs.

Unable to find her voice, she let out a tear but she smiles and shakes her head and his heart clenches. "Hinata," he breathes, "what are you afraid of?"

Naruto always knows.

"What are you afraid of?" He repeats. And his face inches closer to hers, and he kisses her. Full in the mouth. And her eyes shut. His fingers still feel cold on her face and she can still feel the drip drop of water from his hair as he kisses her for the first time, but right now his kiss is soft and feel warm to not only her lips but also her heart.

She let out another tear because she's happy to be in love with Naruto, because it's a wonderful feeling and his kiss chases away her fears, as if he _knows_ her fears. When he let go, his arms instinctively wrap around her slender form, her chin resting on his shoulder.

Any other day, when he hugs her, her heart would race and pound against her ribcage but her heartbeat is calm right now and it is pleasantly weird. Her whisper is loud inside her head, whispers about how she doesn't want to let him go ever, and it grows louder and louder until maybe it escapes her mouth, she isn't that sure anymore. And he still smells like fabric softener like all those years ago.

When she isn't hugging him anymore, he lets her stare at him long without needing to look away, because she always looked away whenever he caught her staring, and frankly catching her staring at him has become Naruto's favorite thing ever.

She can see her own reflection in those blue pools that are his eyes and she's bold enough now to touch his face and his whisker-like marks that she's loved from the day she saw them for the first time.

"I'm not afraid of anything," she finally blurts out. She realizes how true it is because it's the truth. Because he kissed her and her fears and doubts gone, and she's suddenly diving deep into his blue orbs, as if he's inviting her to see his soul with her own heart, and from that moment she knows they will grow old together.

"I still remember the exact words you said that day. It was raining back then too," Naruto says, looking at her. He's trying hard not to smile.

"Oh?" She stares curiously at him. "What words?"

He smirks. "'You've got the whole sky in your eyes'."

It's amazing that it still brings heat to his face and makes him flustered everytime he remembers those words (the memory of her saying _that_ with that soft voice of hers still rings vividly in his head everytime), but Hinata is currently inventing a new shade of red. "D-don't remind me of that!"

He laughs. Hinata looks much livelier with that much of red in her face. The heat actually radiates to him. He loves that she loves his eyes that much. Because of her, sometimes he looks at his mirror and sees his eyes' reflection, the eyes that reminds her of the summer sky, and then he thinks of his midnight-haired friend. Is it weird that his _own_ eyes remind him of Hinata?

"But your eyes, Hinata, remind me of the moon."

Pale, kind, pure, gentle, beautiful, and sometimes shy. Her eyes are the windows to her very soul but lately they are home to his soul too. But he isn't going to say that out loud because Hinata is already looking dizzy from embarassment right now.

"That reminds me. We should definitely go moon gazing sometimes."

"Mmm," she agrees distractedly, not fully sinking it in that they would be alone on top of a hill or probably a rooftop at night and staring at the moon; a scene comes straight out of a movie. Any activity is exciting if you do it with Naruto.

"It's not raining anymore. Let's go home."

He always climbs down first before she does, then wait until her feet touches the ground safely. He is riding his own bike next to her. She refused to let him ride with her to her house at first, since it's a long way, but she still couldn't say no to _that_ face even after all these years. He hugs her again before Hinata goes inside, their eyes glowing with the promise of better days ahead, starting tomorrow, with their new found—accepted feelings.

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— **FIN—**

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 **Author's note:**

English is not my first language, as you can detect from my very limited vocabulary. So if there are repetitions of words, or limited diction, I am very sorry. If you also find any incorrect use of grammar, I am very sorry, please kindly point it out for me. I am still learning. I receive constructive reviews, but please don't be too hard on me. Thank you for reading.


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